Smart card use grows

Federal agencies are moving toward large-scale adoption of smart cards for identification, according to the latest survey from the Government Accountability Office.

"We're seeing a trend toward larger, agencywide smart card projects," said John de Ferrari, GAO's assistant director of information management issues. "Since we reported in 2003, about half of [the ongoing projects] have been terminated. Many of them were pilot projects or they were specific projects in small agencies, offices or divisions."

GAO auditors said that agencies have added 10 projects since the 2003 survey, which tracked 52 smart card programs. In the report released this week, seven large agencies still do not have smart card projects, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Energy Department, the National Science Foundation and the Small Business Administration.

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